The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is ordering a San Francisco-based e-commerce company to stop selling illegal disinfectants, the agency said in a news release Tuesday.
Regulators ordered Wish, which is owned by ContextLogic Inc., to remove the products from its online marketplace because they are unregistered and not approved by the EPA.
The products in the “stop sale” order include a spray under the label “Special,” and a product marketed as a car disinfectant under the label “Eelhoe.” Other products do not have labelling or directions for use in English, as required by law.
The agency said the products make problematic claims of effectiveness against viruses, bacteria and germs.
Other products targeted by the agency are those marketed as “air sterilization cards” which purport to sterilize homes and furniture, as well as other products marketed as containing chlorine dioxide for use sterilizing hospitals, schools, hotels and homes.
“EPA remains vigilant and will keep removing these illegal disinfectants from circulation,” EPA regional director Martha Guzman said.
Besides being potentially unhealthy, the agency warned the products’ effectiveness in killing germs cannot be proven.
As of Wednesday morning, none of the products targeted by the EPA were listed on Wish’s webpage for products with recall or regulatory issues.
A spokesperson for Wish said in an email that the company had received the EPA’s order but said third-party sellers on the online marketplace were responsible. The spokesperson said Wish has policies that are designed to keep products not approved by the EPA off the marketplace, and it will cooperate with the agency regarding the order.